Blockchain It!
Companies Rename Themselves To Bump Up Share Price

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

dYdX is a decentralized protocol for cryptocurrency derivatives

While some financial derivatives like futures trading

are slowly coming to Bitcoin, we’re still a long time away from these financial products being widely available for the entire cryptocurrency asset class. So dydX is building a decentralized protocol for derivatives, built on the Ethereum blockchain and the 0x protocol. The protocol lets you take out peer-to-peer short sells, long positions and options on any ERC20 token. It also provides the ability for traders to make fully-collateralized loans, which are used to to fund short sellers.

As a refresher, a decentralized protocol means that no single entity controls the process. No one can cancel your order, steal your funds or rip you off as long as the smart contracts powering the protocol are securely written and properly vetted. There are already a few examples of decentralized exchanges like EtherDelta, where you can exchanges crypto assets peer-to-peer. But most of these platforms limit you to exchanging one token for another, which is why dYdX’s focus on more complicated financial positions is unique.

When the platform launches in the spring there will be a decentralized open protocol that anyone can access, as well as a centralized relay built by dYdX that acts as a user interface to the protocol. The UI will look like a traditional trading site but will never take control of user funds, and dYdX will charge a small fee on all trades that use their interface. Of course anyone else can also build private or public interfaces to interact with the dYdX protocol for free. Order books will be off chain with on-chain settlements, which allow for faster trading, especially during times of network congestion.

At first you’ll only be able to trade with ERC20 tokens (and Ethereum itself) but technologies like cross-chain atomic swaps may enable trading of non-Ethereum-based tokens in the future like Bitcoin. dYdX was founded by Antonio Juliano, a former software engineer at Coinbase  and Uber. The startup has raised a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital, with participation from Coinbase founders Fred Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong, Elad Gil and others.

Juliano plans on using the funding to build out a team of engineers (it’s currently a one-man shop) and undergo extensive third-party security audits on the protocol before launching. As explained earlier the only thing that could bring down a decentralized protocol is flaws in its code, making crypto security audits very important for any serious decentralized protocol. Both the decentralized protocol and centralized relay are expected to launch around April, with the independent security audits  being the biggest roadblock before launch.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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Blockchain:
Shifting From Internet of Information
to Internet of Value

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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Cointelegraph continues updating you about the companies

that made significant input to the recent BlockShow Asia conference in Singapore. This time we will discover a company called Qtum and speak with the CEO Patrick Dai. Qtum joined BlockShow Asia because they hope that they can enlighten people with the value of their technology and they know if they want to do that they need to support the industry. Qtum is claimed to be a Blockchain project that bridges the gap between Bitcoin, Ethereum and the other parts of the whole

Crypto/Blockchain field.

“Combining East and West, the advantages of several projects with our own innovations it’s what makes our team and our technology so great.”

What is Qtum?

Qtum is an open source Blockchain project that is developed by the Singapore-based Qtum Foundation. Qtum is a hybrid Blockchain application platform. Qtum’s core technology combines a fork of Bitcoin core, an Account Abstraction Layer allowing for multiple Virtual Machines including the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and Proof-of-Stake consensus aimed at

tackling industry use cases.

“We believe this will allow Smart Contracts and Decentralized Applications to run on a familiar foundation while offering a robust environment for developers.”

Patrick Dai joined the Blockchain project in 2012. He was the first of 50 people in China who knew anything about Bitcoin. In 2015, he wanted to create something new to help the industry- that was the birth of Qtum. Patrick stated at

BlockShow Asia:

“The whole cryptocurrency is a small circle we need to work together, we need a union so that’s the reason we built Qtum.”

From the open source software evolution he believed he should make something more edgy, reinvent the wheel. Qtum uses Bitcoin and proof of stake as a consensus. Patrick wanted Qtum to become a layered design. They have a decentralized governance protocol where everyone can make a decision if you are a coin holder. Most of Blockchain is based on the proof of work- Satoshi’s original decision – but now the idea is changing the Blockchain is becoming more centralized.

He comments:

“I believe that proof of stake is the new trend, that is a part of the reason why Qtum from the very beginning is using proof of stake. Also, I think right now the usability is a disaster for a lot of people, its super hard to manage your private key, to manage your money. Right now for the smart contract we are using Solidity, but Solidity is a new development language, we do not have too many developers who are masters in Solidity.”

Part of Qtum’s appeal to IoT comes from our proof-of-stake design, Qtum’s ability to execute smart contracts from light clients, and their lightning network and x86 virtual machine which are in the works. At BlockShow Asia Patrick explained how the IoT industry’s little regulation allows it to innovate faster, especially when it comes to Blockchain technology. Devices and things can be given identities and accounts to interact machine-to-machine in ways never before possible.

Qtum at BlockShow Asia

At BlockShow Asia 2017, Qtum was not only one of the main sponsors, but also participated in the event as an exhibitor. That’s how the Qtum team explains the company’s main goal in being part of

the BlockShow Asia exhibition:

“Since our industry changes so rapidly, we need to be aware of all the innovations coming onto the scene. I think engaging with the community, seeing how sentiment changes, and what technologies have made recent breakthroughs is important for Qtum to stay up-to-date”.

According to John Scianna, Marketing Director at Qtum, the audience which came to visit the company’s booth during the conference was quite diverse: “It ranged from people just hearing about Blockchain to Qtum fans.” Moreover, Qtum CEO Patrick Dai performed as a speaker on the first day of the conference, speaking about the future of Blockchain and IoT, which he believes is one of the most promising sectors to be empowered with Blockchain technology.

Patrick comments:

“We believe that Blockchain IoT applications will really take off in this coming year. Blockchain technology offers a number of advantages to this industry. Currently, there’s several competing communication technologies for IoT devices, but if we can develop a framework and some standards, we can make some advancements.”

Future plans

Qtum is building the bridge between the Blockchain and traditional worlds. For far too long, the industry has been limited by the amount of developers that could be trained to learn Solidity. They will have an x86 VM prototype running on the test network in early 2018 along with a whole range of wallets and developer tools that will increase the accessibility and utility of the network. Qtum is highly ambitious on Qtum’s x86 VM accessibility: “With Qtum’s x86 VM we will help give access to the millions of developers that know traditional programming languages like C, C++, Rust, Haskell, etc. so that they can become dapp developers.”

In addition, Qtum just released their latest Qt wallet, which allows people to interact with smart contracts and QRC20 tokens. This is a significant milestone for the Qtum community since now they can unleash the full potential of their dapps. Stay tuned and excited about their release of an updated roadmap with even more details coming shortly! Make sure to stay up to date with Cointelegraph! We will be making updates of interviews and influential insights learned from BlockShow Asia. You can enjoy more BlockShow-related materials at our official Social Media channels and make sure to stay tuned for some fresh announcements which are coming up soon.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

One in Three Millennials Will Own Cryptocurrency by the End of 2018

Bitcoin continues to attract a lot of attention all over the world.

Whether or not it makes for a great investment remains to be determined by the masses. Even though the initial Bitcoin craze has died down quite a bit, there are still plenty of Millennials who are showing an interest in the world’s leading cryptocurrency. In fact, it is expected that one in three members of this demographic will invest in any cryptocurrency by late 2018.

Cryptocurrencies Remain Very Popular

It is evident the recent Bitcoin price growth has attracted a lot of attention over the past year. With its value soaring to new heights, everyone wants to ensure they are on the Bitcoin train before it leaves the station. At the same time, one has to acknowledge there may not be too many more Bitcoin price gains in the next few weeks and months, although anything can happen in the world of crypto. Most people will acknowledge this ecosystem is about so much more than Bitcoin, though, as the major altcoins have appreciated in value as well.

Thanks to the Millennials, things will get very interesting moving forward. Right now, around 5% of this demographic has already invested in various cryptocurrencies, which is a more-than-solid number already. However, this percentage will keep on growing, and it is expected that nearly 33% of all Millennials will hold at least one cryptocurrency by the end of 2018. Which currencies those will be exactly remains to be determined. London Block Exchange recently performed a study to determine how this demographic feels about different cryptocurrencies. While Bitcoin is still incredibly popular, most people also acknowledge 2018 may very well be the year of prominent altcoins. How high these values can soar is anybody’s guess, though, as most major currencies have seen major gains this year. No one will even come close to challenging Bitcoin, although it is evident the world’s leading cryptocurrency is far from perfect in its current form.

Millennials are turning to cryptocurrency

because it is more attractive than traditional investments. Moreover, a large portion of this demographic feels left behind by these traditional options. Neither properties nor pensions are necessarily all that profitable for the younger generation to invest in right now. Pensions may not even be around by the time most Millennials reach retirement. Things are not looking all that great in the world of traditional finance right now; that much is evident.

Combine this lack of appeal with the general distrust most Millennials have for banks and financial institutions, and it only becomes clearer why cryptocurrencies will continue to surge. There is a vast difference between the younger generation’s view of money and finance and how older people perceive them right now. Whether or not this means we will see an even larger influx of new cryptocurrency investors remains to be seen. For now, it seems such growth is almost inevitable.

There is also a general sense of regret among Millennials for not having bought into cryptocurrency sooner. Rest assured a lot of people around the world share this sentiment, as all values have soared beyond people’s wildest expectations. Although it remains to be seen what the future holds in regard to various cryptocurrencies, things may certainly intensify over the next few months as Millennials continue to invest in these markets.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Why Blockchain Will Save
the Agency Business

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Ripple Price Surges 84% In A Day To New Record High. Is XRP The Next Crypto Rocket 'To The Moon'?

The increased activity in Bitcoin following Cboe launching bitcoin futures trading on Dec. 10, is generating more activity around the entire cryptocurrency world. As the #4 (and occasionally #5 when Litecoin surpassed it) cryptocurrency, of course Ripple has felt the, well, ripple effect. Another explanation is that as the Bitcoin craze cools off, more people are trading for Ripple—which some see as a more stable asset.

"I think that markets view XRP as a very stable digital asset, so they feel safe parking funds in XRP when they exit other assets. If someone wants to get out of BTC, but doesn't want to necessarily move into fiat, he or she moves the value into XRP," said Miguel Vias, head of XRP markets at Ripple in an interview with Coindesk. Especially as network speeds lag and transaction fees soar on Bitcoin, Ripple may be an appealing trading alternative with its super-fast speeds.

AMEX Partnership

Unlike many cryptocurrencies, whose ethos moves away from traditional banking and financial institutions, Ripple seeks to use the new technology to optimize how money is moved. To that end, a recently announced partnership with American Express could be driving buzz around XRP. Ripple will be working with AMEX to "solve liquidity shortfalls in remittances by offering instant blockchain-based payments."

"American Express has a long history of integrating new technologies…,” said American Express Chief Information Officer Marc Gordon, in a statement. “This collaboration with Ripple and Santander represents the next step forward on our blockchain journey, evolving the way we move money around the world.” Another explanation is that as the Bitcoin craze cools off, more people are trading for Ripple—which some see as a more stable asset.

"I think that markets view XRP as a very stable digital asset, so they feel safe parking funds in XRP when they exit other assets. If someone wants to get out of BTC, but doesn't want to necessarily move into fiat, he or she moves the value into XRP," said Miguel Vias, head of XRP markets at Ripple in an interview with Coindesk. Especially as network speeds lag and transaction fees soar on Bitcoin, Ripple may be an appealing trading alternative with its super-fast speeds.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-4614

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

2018:
Another Growth Year for Blockchain

2017 was a year of tremendous growth for blockchain,

though not in the expected ways. At the beginning of this year, I and others predicted that 2017 would be the year that blockchain moved from proof-of-concepts into production. We did see some notable successes in this regard. Ripple became a fully operational platform with over 100 members and payment volumes in the billions, and industries began to form blockchain business networks, for example, the Digital Trade Chain consortium (DTC) in trade finance. But overall, I expected to see more "go lives" than we did. On the other hand, I don't think anyone expected the unprecedented growth in the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies or the related ICO boom.

So, what will the new year bring?

Despite the obvious perils in making predictions, I feel confident that, among other things, we will see

the following:

• Blockchain solutions will continue to come into production as the "low-hanging fruit" are addressed.
• Cryptocurrencies will continue to grow, fueled by traditional asset management players and techniques.
• Companies will focus on changing business models as blockchain begins to transform market structures.
• New ecosystems with smart contract technology will arise as integration platforms between existing industries.
• The ICO will become "professionalized" and morph into IPO 2.0.
• Scalability and performance of blockchains will become a critical issue, and there will be interesting new approaches
• People will increasingly recognize that local blockchain ecosystems are a critical success factor.

Now, let's unpack the details.

Low-hanging fruit

Although it was quieter than expected this year, I believe we will continue to see blockchain solutions come into production as enterprises address the "low-hanging fruit" by digitizing businesses and use cases where blockchain can make the most impact. In fintech, the two most promising use cases remain payments (where there are $50–60 billion of potential savings to be had) and trade finance (which stands to save some $15 billion).

As we saw payments do in 2017, I expect we will see trade finance begin to go live on blockchain in 2018. In payments, momentum will pick up and volumes will increase as larger banks, including correspondent banks, get into the act. These players will be tempted by the advantages blockchain brings in terms of real-time processing, lower risk profiles, lower costs and transparency. Blockchain can serve as a stick as well as a carrot, simply by proving that there are better alternatives to the status quo in many industries. We can imagine, as an example, that blockchain has had a hand to play in the European Banking Authority's EU-wide transparency exercises.

We were all somewhat surprised – if pleasantly so – by how well cryptocurrencies did in 2017 as a speculative asset. Indeed, growth was spectacular, with the asset class rising from $14 billion in December 2016 to over $450 billion in December 2017 in terms of market capitalization. I think this growth will continue to be fueled by traditional asset management approaches, including bitcoin futures, crypto hedge funds and the like, all of which will increase the demand for cryptocurrencies and tokens.

New business models

As blockchain continues to change market structures, companies will increasingly focus on changing business models. In a world where middlemen are becoming obsolete, companies will have to learn to stop thinking in silos and be more open to becoming partners in ecosystems or on broader platforms. That, in turn, means deciding what kinds of business models they want – whether it's platform plays, product plays, omni-channel strategies, and so on. These discussions will become multi-dimensional, encompassing both existing services and, increasingly, the new kinds of services that blockchain enables – particularly as blockchain combines with IoT and AI to create new kinds of marketplaces where industry silos come down in favor of broad, horizontal structures.

One of the most satisfying parts of 2017 for me was being able to see this start to happen close-hand among some of the companies I have the privilege to work with. Deon Digital has partnered with Mercedes Benz to develop a new operating system that will help break down silos in the mobility space. Skycell is a good example of IoT and blockchain opening up the pharmaceutical supply chain to embrace payments, invoicing and insurance. TEND is rethinking investment management by creating a Sharing Economy 2.0 for high-value assets.

One space I think we should keep a particular eye on in 2018 is the fund industry, where firms like Melonport are using blockchain to rethink asset management. I think we will see more of this, and that the fund industry will start to be significantly disrupted next year. This will start with the management of crypto assets, but over time we will see traditional assets increasingly being tokenized, migrated onto blockchains and managed on-chain.

The morphing of ICOs

With startups raising over $3.5 billion in ICOs, 2017 was clearly the year of the token launch. To me, though, the ICO boom is significant, not necessarily because of the amounts raised, but because we are seeing the beginnings of the democratization of venture capital. And though the concept had a great 2017, change will come to the world of ICOs in 2018 as more traditional players get involved.

Over the next 12-18 months, I expect people with experience and expertise in the IPO world will embrace tokenization as a technical platform, and the whole business will be professionalized, with book building, pricing, startup evaluation and so on happening more along traditional lines. As we've already begun to see, it will be harder to get funding simply on the back of a white paper. Investors will demand sound business plans and high levels of transparency, with all that entails.

Scalability and ecosystems

One of the key challenges of existing blockchain technology is scale and performance. I predict that next year we will see alternatives to current blockchain technologies that will be more scalable, faster and minimize energy consumption. IOTA, which has gained a lot of traction lately, is, I think, a project to watch in this regard. I also believe people will increasingly find that local blockchain ecosystems, where critical services are co-located in one geographical area, are critical success factors for blockchain projects. This is certainly what we see in the "Crypto Valley" in Switzerland. As the President of the Crypto Valley Association, I hope readers will forgive me for predicting – or at the least, pitching for – the continued success of Switzerland as a blockchain ecosystem.

Crypto Valley has a high concentration of all the services blockchain projects will need to raise money and set up shop, including legal, advisory, tax, accounting, smart contract platforms, KYC/AML utilities and marketing expertise. This coupled with Switzerland’s other advantages, from its state-of-the-art infrastructure to its highly skilled workforce, will, in my opinion, mean it should remain a great draw for blockchain companies – in the new year and hopefully for many years to come.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
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David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Blockchain's Big Year:
Competitive Job Market Grows
More Than 200%

The number of blockchain jobs posted in the U.S.

this year has seen a dramatic increase, according to data provided to CoinDesk from one of the largest jobs sites. The just-published statistics from Indeed.com indicate that, since last December, that number has increased by 207 percent. Even more dramatically, the number of blockchain jobs has increased 631 percent since November 2015. Showing how hot cryptocurrency has become this year after being generally overshadowed by blockchain in 2016, 15 out of the 18 most popular industry jobs specifically mentioned "cryptocurrency" in the description.

Moreover, when seen as a percentage of the site's total number of job postings, the blockchain industry overall increased from only a few jobs per million to roughly 30 jobs per million, showing a slight increase relative to the overall available positions on the site. While many industry observers likely didn't need the numbers to know the blockchain industry has grown massively over the course of the last year, the quantification is interesting, especially as it relates to the divergence in the number of jobs searched compared to the number of jobs posted.

At the beginning of this year, the number of jobs searched neared parity with number of jobs posted, at about 20 searches each per million, according to the chart below, also provided by Indeed. Then, over the course of this year, the frequency of blockchain jobs searched increased by five times to almost 100 blockchain jobs searches per million. This combination of explosive blockchain jobs growth and the interest of jobs seekers has created a tumultuous environment, where the leading employers are duking it out over top-notch talent.

Vice president of product at Indeed.com, Terence Chiu said:

"While the number of opportunities and searches are still quite small, Indeed data shows that companies are increasingly seeking experts to focus on this new technology – and job seekers have been quick to react."
 

Not just technicians

While nearly all the jobs on Indeed.com were technical in nature, not all employers are after developers or engineers. This year also marked the birth of the Crypto Jobs List website, dedicated exclusively to crypto industry jobs. Launching in September with the promise to not scrape job postings from other sites, and instead only to publish original opportunities, the site has discovered a niche in the non-technical side of the industry.

With an average of two job postings per day, the site has listed 90 blockchain jobs so far, with about 20 more currently being "curated" for possible inclusion. Among those that have been posted are positions for writers, traders, marketers and lawyers. The site's founder and director of growth, Raman Shalupau, described the diverse demand,

saying:

"Even though demand for Solidity smart contracts engineers and core engineers is through the roof, there are plenty positions that are accessible for non-technical people."

As an example of this diversity, one of the largest industry employers, Deloitte, currently employs about 800 people across its various blockchain efforts, but only 400 of those are either blockchain developers or architects, according to numbers provided to CoinDesk. The other half of those jobs include positions such as business analysts, strategy and technology consultants, and tax and accounting experts. An estimated 75 percent of all blockchain jobs result from cross-training existing employees – an increasingly popular trend, according to Eric Piscini, a Deloitte principal who oversees much of the firm's blockchain work.

"Every morning when I wake up the first thing I think about is, where can I find more people to join the team?" he said. In addition to cross-training employees, Deloitte hires many of its staff from educational institutions and is one of the largest posters of jobs in the provided Indeed.com data.

The top employers

But it's not just the types of opportunities that differ greatly from job site to job site. It's also the types of employers. On Crypto Jobs List, the top three biggest blockchain employers are interoperable smart contracts startup Wanchain, ethereum client software startup Parity Technologies and asset management startup Cindicator. On the flip side, Indeed.com appears more attractive to legacy firms, with industry mainstays like Deloitte and JPMorgan, as well as interesting newbies including eBay, ESPN and Uber using the premium Indeed Prime service to actively seek out candidates. CoinDesk also reached out to several other large blockchain companies to get an idea of how employment numbers have changed.

Distributed ledger consortium R3, which earlier this year raised $107 million in venture capital, has grown its staff from 30 in early 2016, to 90 at the beginning of 2017, and as high as 150 today, according to the consortium's head of global talent, Simon Clarke. Clarke said R3 has had to become more competitive with its compensation packages, while focusing on creating a culture that encourages employees to stick around. "It's no secret that blockchain expertise is in huge demand right now," said Clarke. "Firms are fighting to hire the best talent, and candidates are able to be incredibly picky about the role they ultimately choose."

Computing giant IBM said that other large enterprises aren't the biggest threat in attracting talent. According to the firm's vice president of people and culture, Mike Schade, it's rather the blockchain startups that are most attractive to job seekers. Since the beginning of the year, IBM has grown the number of blockchain-focused employees it has from 400 to 1,500, primarily by giving those employees access to its biggest clients (whereas startups generally offer equity in the company). Yet, if that doesn't work, Schade said the tech giant works to keep friendly relations with even former blockchain employees, in case the startup life doesn't work out. "We keep in touch with them closely,"

A new kind of employee

Beyond just changing the relationship these companies keep with former employees, blockchain technology is also changing the nature of employment itself, according to Andrew Keys, an early employee of ethereum startup incubator ConsenSys. Formerly the head of global business development for the firm, Keys is himself as an example of the evolving arrangements that are helping change what it means to be an employee. Keys is now the co-founder of ConsenSys Capital, which is just one of more than 25 so-called "spokes" of ConsenSys as a larger company. Each spoke has its own founder, who interacts with the corporate hub in his or her own way.

But along with their job titles, Keys and other employees identify as "members" of ConsenSys, an allusion to their varying vested interests in the company's success. The company, which grew from about 100 employees in January to about 470 today, offers a spectrum of compensation arrangements, including varying degrees of equity, salary, token distribution arrangements and other affiliations. "We're blurring the lines of what employer-employee relationships are," Keys told CoinDesk.

Threat to jobs?

In the end, though, the total number of blockchain jobs in the economy will likely be more difficult to calculate than any other profession, as will their impact on other jobs. While jobs numbers are always an estimate, blockchain roles in particular will likely always be tough to quantify due to the pseudonymous or anonymous nature of many in the industry. That's not the only reason why the impact of blockchain on the jobs market could prove difficult to calculate, though. The often touted "increased efficiency" achieved by a shared, distributed ledger has increasingly become a widely used euphemism for cutting jobs.

Earlier this year, Digital Asset Holdings founder Blythe Masters warned that there was no guarantee blockchain would be a net win for the jobs industry. Echoing that sentiment is Mizuho Bank senior digital strategist working with blockchain, Ikuma Ueno. Following an address Ueno gave at banking conference Sibos earlier this year, he argued in interview with CoinDesk that employers might eventually have a responsibility to retrain the employees that blockchain makes irrelevant – if they can. "It's always hard to tear off the people who have been dedicated to that service for 25 or 30 years, and then tell them to do sales. It's not going to work," he said,

concluding:

"But that must be taken into consideration when you are trying to do new approaches."

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
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Cryptocurrency scams doubled from 2016.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden